MARION, OH (MARION COUNTY NOW)—Two Ohio State University at Marion professors have secured a $20,000 grant to expand a program that integrates computer and data science into high school classrooms, focusing on real-world applications.
Chris Orban, Associate Professor of Physics, and Scott Zimmerman, Associate Professor of Mathematics, were awarded the Ohio State Energy Partners (OSEP) Academic Collaboration Award for their project, “The STEMcoding Data Science High School Curriculum Initiative.” The funding will allow them to build upon the existing STEMcoding project, a university-led effort to bring computer and data science concepts into high school math and science curricula.
The new curriculum will feature hands-on data collection and analysis activities, as well as exercises where students download and interpret data from federal agencies like NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
These new activities will be shared with the network of teachers who have been involved with the STEMcoding project since its inception in 2017. Ohio State University students frequently contribute to and appear in instructional videos on the STEMcoding YouTube channel, explaining these concepts at a high school level.
“Compared to high school data science efforts at other universities, our curriculum focuses on physical science, atmospheric science, and sustainability,” Zimmerman stated in their proposal.
The OSEP award will also provide resources and training for high school math and science teachers. The curriculum aims to equip students with essential spreadsheet and computer science skills, both critical for today’s workforce.
“Another big theme in the curriculum is ‘data storytelling’,” Orban added. “Students need to understand how to ask questions of data, and to focus on those questions as they consider different ways to visualize the results.”
Orban and Zimmerman expressed enthusiasm about expanding the curriculum and collaborating with more teachers. Educators interested in learning more about the initiative can fill out the contact form on the STEMcoding website.